Donate Christmas trees to Chicago area families

The Salvation Army has teamed up with a Lake Barrington store to help low income families make holiday memories with beautiful Christmas trees.

It's hard not to get into the holiday spirit at Treetime Christmas Creations in Lake Barrington.

"We have hundreds of high-quality artificial Christmas trees and trim and garland and wreaths and hopefully everything you'll want to have a great Christmas," Laurie Kane, co-owner, Treetime Christmas Creations.

Treetime, located at 22102 N Pepper Rd, Lake Barrington, also wants low income families to have a great Christmas, so the store has teamed up with the Salvation Army to collect "gently used" artificial trees. The trees will be distributed for free to needy families.

"They wanted to help save waste from going to the dumps with people discarding their trees," Envoy Dennis Earnhardt, Salvation Army, Waukegan Arc," said. "We want to increase the number of families to get Christmas trees that ordinarily wouldn't be able to afford them."

This is the second year Treetime has served as a drop-off point. Last year about 200 trees were donated. This year, the goal is 400 trees. They're offering a trade-in discount as an incentive.

"Sometimes we get caught up in all the trim and all the stuff and by doing this it helps everybody remember that it's about giving," Kane said.

The store is hosting the program through the end of October. You can drop it off there, or you can call the Salvation Army directly at 1-800-SATRUCK and schedule a pick-up anytime.

"We meet all kinds of people that are in need through our programs, through our social services where people come for help with food, utilities, shelter and other issues," Earnhardt said. "When you have children and you have a Christmas tree that makes all the difference in the world."

Soon the Salvation Army's famous red kettles will show up. On December 14, some ABC 7 anchors and reporters will be outside the State Street Studio, ringing the bell.